Wire reel



March 6, 1951 s. D. sPuRLlNG 2,544,401

WIRE REEL Filed Oct. l1, 1946 2 .Sheets-Sheet 1 l mm Inventar A t/orneyx March 6, 1951 s. D. s'PuRLlNG WIRE REEL Filed Oct. 11, 1946 .2Sheets-Shea?l 2 'Ill Il..

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At/orney:

Patented Mar. 6, 1951 `UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WIRE REEL Sherman D.Spurling, Macon, Ga..

Application October 11, 1946, Serial No. 702,634

5 Claims. (Cl. 242-72) This invention relates to a reel adapted to beused for supporting a roll of wire and more particularly for supportingrolls of double wire of the type used by electricians in wiringbuidings.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a reel on which a rollof electric wire can be readily applied and from which the wire can bepaid out without being twisted or becoming tangled.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a reel provided with acarrying handle, having a hinge side for exposing the reel for applyingor removing a roll of wire, having a latch for normally retaining saidhinge side in an operative position and provided with an adjustablebrake for controlling the rotation of the reel.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a reel which canbe readily adjusted to increase or decrease the circumference thereoffor adapting the reel to holding rolls of wire having different internaldiameters.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter becomemore fully apparent from the following description of the drawings,which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of the reel;

Figure 2 is an end view in elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along aplane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view showing the reel in an open positionpreparatory to receiving a roll of wire;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5--5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of a portionof the reel and Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of anotherportion thereof.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reel in its entirety isdesignated generally 8 and includes a base 9 which is adapted to rest ona suitable supporting surface. A side wall VII! is secured to the base 9and extends upwardly from adjacent to one side edge thereof. Acomplementary, opposite side wall II extends upwardly-from the oppositeside edge of the base 9 and is hingedly mounted with respect thereto.

The side walls i0 and II each include an upright bar I2 to the innerside of which is secured a disc I3. The bar I2 of the wall I0 is xedlysecured to the base 9 and the bar I2 of the wall II is xedly secured atits lower end vto a horizontally disposed piece I4, which forms a partof the base 9 and which is hingedly connected to the base by means of apair of leaf hinges I5, as best seen in Figures 1 and 2.

' Referring particularly to Figure 5, a handle member I6 is providedwith a restricted end I'I which is secured in the bar I2 of side Ill,adjacent the upper end thereof. The handle I6 projects from the innerside of said bar I2 and has a restricted opposite end I8 which isremovably disposed in an opening I9 formed in the upper end of the barI2 of side II. The upper portion of the handle I6 is formed with arecess 2l] which extends through its restricted portion I8 for receivinga spring latch strip 2l which is secured to the handle I6, adjacent itsend Il, by a retaining strip 22. The free end of the latch strip 2| isenlarged and is provided with an upwardly facing recess or notch 23which is disposed to receive the lower edge of a keeper 24 when the sidewall II is in an upright position. The keeper 24 is secured to the upperportion of the bar I2 of side II and has its lower free edge extendinginto the opening I9, as clearly illustrated in Figure 5. A restrainingstrap 25 is secured to the handle IE and disposed over a portion of thespring strip 2I to limit the upward movement of the free end thereof,when disengaged from the keeper 24.

A spool 26 is rotatably mounted on a spindle 21 which is anchored to theportions I2 and I3 of the Wall I0, said spool being disposed between theside walls Ill and II and being of a diameter substantially less thanthe discs I3.

An arcuate strip 28 is secured to the inner side of the disc I3 of wallIl] in perpendicular relationship thereto and extends subtantiallytherearound except for a gap between the ends of the strip 28 whichforms an opening 2S, as best seen in Figure 4, adjacent the bottom ofthe reel 8. The width of the strip 28 is slightly less than the distancebetween the discs I3 when the two walls ID and II are in uprightpositions, so that said strip 28 forms a cover for substantiallyenclosing the spool 26. The strip 28 is secured at its ends to bolts 3|and 32 which are anchored in the disc I3 of side ID, The ends of thestrip 2B are fastened to the bolts 3l and 32 by beine,- turned back orlooped and secured around the Shanks thereof. A roller 30 is disposedacross the upper porticn of the opening 29, adjacent to the upper bolt32, said roller being journaled on a bolt 33 which is anchored in thedisc I3 of the wall Ill.

As best seen in Figure 4, the inner side of the disc I3 of the wall IIis provided with a transversely disposed recess 34 for receiving a leafspring 35 which is anchored at one end to the wall II by a fastening 36.As best illustrated in Figure 4, a screw 3'i engages a threaded bore 38in the parts I2 and I3 of the wall II and has its inner end extendinginto the recess 34. The inner end of the screw 31 engages against thefree end of the leaf spring 35 for forcing said free end inwardly andtoward the spool 26. The screw 37 is provided with a cross head at itsouter end forming a handle 39 by means of which the screw 37 may beadvanced or retracted with respect to the leaf spring 35.

As seen in Figures 4, 6 and 7, the periphery of the spool 26 is providedwith a plurality of arcuately shaped transversely extending recesses 40in each of which is normally nested ari-arcuate plate 4I which ishingedly connected at 42 along one end thereof to the spool 26. As bestseen in Figure 4, the spool 26 is preferably provided with four equallyspaced recesses 46 each of which contains an arcuate member 4I. When thearcuate members 4I are in nested positions, as shown in full lines inFigure 4, they are entirely contained within the recesses 40. Byswinging the members 4I outwardly from their full line to their dottedline position of Figure 4 or from their dotted line to their full line,position of Figure 6, the members 4I may be disposed so as to projectoutwardly from the periphery of the spool 26, for a purpose which willhereinafter be described.

Assuming that the reel 8 is empty and in a closed position as shown inFigures 1 and 2, by pressing downwardly on the latch 2l the notchthereof will be released from the keeper 24 so that the side I I can beswung on the hinges I5 to its open position of Figure 4. This willexpose one side of the reel 8 so that a roll of electricians wire may beinserted through the open side and placed on the periphery of the spool26 and within the outer wall 28, after which the outer end of the rollis extended outwardly through the opening 29, as indicated by dottedlines at 43 in Figures 1 and 4. The side I I is then swung back to itsupright position and as the handle portion I8 enters the opening I9 thefree end of the latch will be compressed by engagement with the bottomedge of the keeper 24 to permit the latch 2| to assume a position inwhich it can spring upwardly so that the notch in the free end thereofwill receive the bottom edge of the keeper 24 for again latching thewall I I in its position of Figure 2. If it is not desired toimmediately unwind the wire 43 of the reel 8, the screw handle 39 may berevolved for advancing the screw inwardly to cause the inner end thereofto force the free end of the leaf spring into frictional clampingengagement with a side of the spool 26, for locking the spool againstrotation. When it is desired to pay vout the wire 43, the screw 31 isrotated in the opposite direction to retract 'it sufficiently to eitherpermit the free end of the spring 35 to move entirely out of engagementwith the spool 2'6 or so that the spring 35 will engage the spool 26sufficiently to frictionally retard the rotation of said spool so thatthe wire 43 will not be unwound too rapidly therefrom with the resultingpossibility of its becoming tangled. As the wire 43 will ordinarily bepulled outwardly and upwardly, the roller 32 is positioned to be engagedthereby to prevent frictional contact of a portion of the wire with apart of the reel 8.

The reel 8 is especially intended for use with conventional rolls ofelectricians double strand wire used in wiring buildings and since thistype of wire is marketed in rolls of different internal diameters, thespool 26 is made adjustable to accommodate such different size rolls.For rolls having smaller internal diameters, the spool 26 is utilizedwith the members 4I disposed in nested position in the recesses 46, asseen in full lines in Figure 4. For rolls of wire of greater internaldiameter, each of the arcuate members 4I is swung to its full lineposition, as seen in Figure 6, to thereby increase the circumference anddiameter of the spool 26 to adapt it to the rolls of larger internaldiameter. Obviously, the reel 8 may be readily carried by the usergrasping the handle I6.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a reel, a base, ahousing including a xed side secured tothe baseand a swingably mounted side'hinged to the base, latch means forretaining Vthe swingably mounted side in a closed position with respectvto the fixed side, a spool carried by Vthe Vfixed side and Vjournaledin the housing between said sides, and means for varying thecircumference of the spool for adapting it to rolls of wire .ofdiierent'internal diameters, said means including a plurality ofelements equally spaced around the circumference of the spool.

'2. In a reel, ,a base, ahousing including a fixed side Lsecured to thebase and a swingably mounted side hinged to :the base, latch means forretaining 'the swingably mounted side in a closed position with respectto the fixed side, a spool carried by the xed side and journaled in thehousing be Jween said sides, and means for varying the circumference ofthe spool for adapting it to rolls of wire of dierent internaldiameters, said means comprising larcuate recesses formed in theperiphery of the spool, arcuate members pivotally connected to the spooland normally nested in said recesses, said arcuate members beingswingable to posiions outwardly of the periphery of the spool forincreasing the circumference thereof.

3. Ina reel, a base, a housing including a xed side secured to the base'and a swingably mounted side hinged to the base, latch 'means forretaining the swingably mounted side in a closed position with respectto the fixed side, ,a spool carried by the fixed side and journaled inthe housing between said sides, means for varying the circumference ofthe spool for adapting it to rolls of wire of different internaldiameters, said housing having upwardly projecting extensions, and ahandle disposed between said extensions, the latch means for thehingedly mounted side of the housing being carried by said handle.

4. A reel for wire rolls comprising, a base, a housing projecingupwardly from the base including laterally spaced sides, one of saidsides being hingedly supported on the base for eX- posing a side of thehousing, the other side being xed `to the base, a spool supported by thexed side and rotatably mounted between said sides within the housing,said spool having arcuate recesses in the periphery thereof, and arcuatemembers pivotally connecled to the spool and normally nested in saidrecesses, said arcuate members being swingable to positions outwardly ofthe periphery of the spool for increasing the circumference thereof.

`5. A reel for wire rolls comprising, a base, a housing projectingupwardly from the base in- SHERMAN D. SPURLING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,567,483 Bear Dec. 29, 19252,087,928 Spencer et al. July 27, 1937 10 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 183,976 Switzerland Sept. 16, 1936

